IN AN EXQUISITE MICRO-RELEASE, ARTISANAL FAMILY-OWNED BOURBON HOUSE PRESERVATION DISTILLERY DEBUTS ITS LATEST RARE PERFECTION SERIES, A WONDROUSLY UNCONVENTIONAL SIPPING WHISKEY WITH CANADIAN AND KENTUCKY ROOTS
BY AMANDA MCCOY
The taste of fall is offered in a myriad of flavors; for some, gradient foliage is best served alongside a large pumpkin-laced latte, and for others, autumn beckons a platter of house-recipe dry rubs, creamy Crock-Pot dips, and other game day classics. But for bourbon connoisseurs, artful tipplers who thrive on the thrill of a complex sip, the change in season marks prime whiskey weather, a time to shelve those RTD margaritas and mules in favor of a two finger pour by the fire. Rare Perfection 15 Year, a gloriously unique sipping whiskey from the rebellious alchemists of Preservation Distillery along Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, is a vintage expression originally released in 2019 to polarizing reviews (a Bourbon Culture critic deemed it “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”). The following year, it nabbed a double gold designation at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Though it boasts a four-grain bourbon mash bill, Rare Perfection is technically not a bourbon at all, as it matured in freshly charred oak barrels in a low-rise warehouse in Northern Canada, where it was exposed to prolonged cold-storage aging, slowing its interaction with the wood. The result offers classic fruit-forward notes like strawberry, orange, and buttercream on the nose, followed by a rich palate of crème brulée and candied orange, and topped o with a sharp sting on the finish. It’s bottled at a cask strength 120 proof. Preservation is famed for its micro-batch releases, thus the bottle is a collector’s item, a vintage gem that blends the realms of bourbon and Canadian whiskey. The series also includes a 14 year, offering sweeter notes of candied pecans, chocolate-covered walnuts, and hard to flee, at a lighter 100 proof. $174.99 and $193.99 for the 14 and 15 year, respectively.